The Crash
by Unjax
Summary: On their way to a mission, team RWBY's transport crashes. With Yang knocked out, it's left to Blake to get them both out, safe and alive, and find their way back to the rest of their team. That is, if Weiss and Ruby survived.


"Kinda beautiful, ain't it?" Yang asked, her metallic arm shining on the steel support bar as she peered out the window. Everyone else was strapped into their respective seats as the chopper whipped through the storm.

From where she was sitting, Blake could hardly make out the waves. The night hid them from her, and only the brief white of waves crashing, catching the blue light of the moon, gave her any indication of the movement of the vast sea below them.

The route they were taking ran along the coastline of Vaccuo, never straying too far into the deep water where the largest, and most dangerous, Grimm could be a threat. Nonetheless, given the urgency of their mission, they were cutting further into the gulf than would normally be advisable.

"Yang, you should really take your seat." Weiss said with an eye roll.

"C'mon, how often do you get to really see the sea?" Yang gave her teammate a cheeky grin.

Blake's ears twitched as she picked up a muted warning from the cockpit.

"Grimm!" The pilot shouted over the coms. "Coming out of the clouds, 20 - 30 - son of a - BRACE!" He screamed. "Rodeo holds, now!"

Blake heard a screech so loud it broke through the walls of the helo. Then something slammed into them from above. Metal screamed as the blades tore into something and deflected into the upper section of the roof.

The airship buckled as something else slammed into them, rocketing them sideways. Reinforced glass shattered and sprayed over her. Cuts opened up on her arms. She closed her eyes and a moment later felt something cut her cheek.

Yang was tossed from the window into the wall and slumped to the floor. "Yang!" Blake shouted, but was drowned out as three claws ripped through the top of the chopper.

"Propellor is down-"

"Yang!"

"We're losing altitude-"

"Grab your seats!" Someone shouted. Blake lost track of who as she slammed her hands onto the underside of her seat.

The world roared as they slammed into the water. The hull buckled and Blake lost hold of her seat and snapped them back into place as the world spun over and over. Water began streaming in from the seams in the metal and the holes that had been torn open.

Her heart pulsed and adrenaline shot through her veins and Blake felt hersef gasping for breath as the water started to pool above her head. They were upside down now, and their heads would be the first to go under.

Blake grit her teeth and forced herself to be calm, took one last breath, and then she was under.

Salt burned her nostrils as the water forced itself into her sinuses. Pressure built in her forehead and Blake's throat constricted instinctively. Her brain began to shut down, her body jerked as she instinctively tried to right herself, but the harness kept her in place.

A few moments later the only thing free of the water's deathgrip was her legs.

She looked around, but could hardly see anything more than murky shadows through the quickly dimming red light. Something roughly humanoid floated past her.

Blake reached into her jacket, pulled out the tube of oxygen in there, and shoved the mouthpiece into place. It was flooded with water, and Blake blew out hard, clearing the device. Her lungs empty, she tried to inhale as they burned. But her body screamed against her, the salt in her nostrils threatening to snake into her throat.

Blake paused, letting the panic pass, then took a breath.

Training took over. She took two breaths, found her rhythm, then with one arm still holding her seat, she unbuckled her harness. Free of it, she had room to move. She knew the most important thing was to keep her reference frame. If she turned over the way the air in her lungs was trying to do, she would lose track of where she was and how to find the exit.

When a helo crashed, you were supposed to get yourself out, that was it. If you tried to get to anyone else, you would run out of air, or lose your bearing, and ultimately, you would wind up wasting two lives. They had drilled that into Blake's head in her training. People died in crashes, it was something she just had to accept.

With anyone else, maybe she could have.

But Blake would not accept that.

She had to get Yang.

She reached for the umbra that was floating away and clasped a limb. She felt skin, warm but cooling, under her fingers and tugged. A mass bumped into her, and Blake wrapped her free arm around what she presumed was Yang's stomach. She had no idea if the other girl was right side up or not.

Now came the hard part. If she let go of her seat for too long, she would reinvert, and it would be over. That's why she was supposed to have two arms available, only ever removing one at a time. That wasn't an option anymore.

She tried to slam her hand into the seat beside her, but once she let go, she was turning. The water was too thick, she was too slow. She missed.

Her aura surged instinctively as her body froze. Fear was a paralytic, and it was consuming her.

Blake forced herself to move again, reached for where she thought the seat might be. She found it, but she was almost sideways now. She pulled her leg up, slid it around her arm, used it to leverage her back upside down.

Two more seats, and she'd be at the exit window.

This time she compensated, reached down as she went sideways, and found the seat easily.

Yang was twisting around in her arm, so Blake pulled hard on the arm around her partner as she reached for the next seat. Yang slammed into her just as her fingers landed. She held fast, but a shoulder slammed into her cheek, partially dislodging her rebreather. Water clawed into her mouth, tried to force it wider as Blake slammed her throat closed.

She put her forehead against Yang, used the other girl to shove the piece back into her mouth, breathed out hard. With it cleared, Blake gulped in a breath, too fast. She took a moment to slow her breathing.

Now she had to open the window.

Another time when having two hands was practically a necessity.

Blake let herself drift away from the seat, pinned Yang against it, then used her liberated hand to shove the window. It stuck.

Blake was twisting again, and if she didn't get that damn window open, she'd either snap a wrist, lose Yang, both, and probably die.

She shoved hard, and the window popped. She drew herself close to Yang, then let go of the seat, grabbing the edge of the window.

Grabbing the collar of Yang's jacket, Blake fed her into the window, shoving her legs to get them out faster, then followed.

She pulled herself out, tumbled into the water for a bit, snagged a leg, and brought the other girl back down to her and wrapped an arm around her again.

There was nothing but black around them.

Endless, seething darkness.

Fear buried deeper into her heart as Blake tried to figure out how to orient herself before kicking.

She shut that voice that was screaming at her that she was going to die here into a corner in the back of her brain, and held Yang tightly for a moment, letting the rest of her body go limp.

A moment later, the spinning stopped and she felt herself being pulled steadily in a direction.

She pulled a cord on her belt and a small balloon popped out of a canister. Blake didn't know how deep they were, but if it was too far and they rose too fast, the nitrogen in their blood would separate from the liquid and send small bubbles screeching through her veins. If they reached her heart in too large a quantity, she might have a heart attack. Even if she didn't, the nitrogen would wreak havoc on her system.

As the balloon took over and began pulling them up, Blake tried to figure out how long they had been under.

Yang was unconscious, so there was no way to safely get the rebreather to her. If they were under for much longer, Blake's effort would have been for nothing, and Yang would die in her arms.

The only thing she had to tell the time was the sound of blood crashing in her ears. She counted the pulses, the time between them stretching on forever as Blake just held her partner tight, hope and fear waging a vicious war inside her.

She saw light above them, the moon shining through. Not too much further now.

But they were going so slow. Too slow.

Knowing it might kill her, Blake started kicking to speed them up.

She clawed through the surface, leaning backwards and hoisting Yang up above her. She slapped Yang's face. The girl moved, then strated sputtering violently. She vomited water violently. It sloshed around them and Yang started thrashing. Blake went under, but forced herself to keep breathing through the air system. She pushed Yang to keep her above water. She felt the water tugging beneath them, then they were rising. Yang was heaving now, gasping desperately for breath as Blake looked sideways. The wave they were in was starting to break, at least ten feet above the rest of the ocean.

Then they were falling.

Blake slammed one hand over Yang's mouth as the wave crashed and they went under.

Yang started to panic, ripping at the arm clasped over her mouth and kicking. Her boot slammed into Blake's shin, making her scream. But Yang was oxygen deprived and her movements were weak. As much as that tore at Blake, right now it was useful.

They broached the surface again and Blake removed her hand, holding Yang's waist more tightly. She ripped the rebreather from her mouth. "We crashed-" she started to yell above the torrent of the storm, but one of Yang's kicks shoved her under. A moment later she came up, sputtering. "Yang," her lips touched' Yang's ear as she yelled as loudly as she can. "Stop!"

"Blake?" Yang's voice was so weak and hoarse. But she stopped struggling.

"We crashed," Blake managed to get out before water slapping between them found it's way into her mouth. "You were knocked out, we got out, but you need to calm down."

Blake raised an arm and tapped Yang's face. She goat a slight moan, but nothing else.

"Yang? Yang stay with me, you have to stay conscious." Oxygen aside, Yang probably had a serious concussion. If she passed out, she might not wake up.

"I-Blake? Blake is that you?"

Another wave began to pull them up.

"I'm here Yang." She said.

"I trust you." Yang said, and then they were plummeting again. This time, when Blake slammed her hand over Yang's mouth, she didn't struggle.

* * *

Blake's vision was darkening by the time her legs finally hit sand. Shallow enough now, she began to hoist Yang's limp body behind her. Her muscles ached and burned. She didn't know how long she had been fighting the sea to keep her and Yang afloat, but everything was trembling. Her legs and chest felt cold, and her breaths chilled her lips.

She reached the water's edge and began hauling Yang after her by the arm. It was night. The tide would be coming in.

She leaned backwards and pulled on Yang's arm. She slid a foot or so before the sand gave out and Blake went flying backwards.

She landed on her back, hard. The wind was knocked out of her and Blake and she wheezed as she rolled over. Her hand found Yang's again, and she tried to stand. Her legs shook for a moment, then gave out.

So instead, Blake dug her heels in and heaved, arching her back and dragging Yang with her. It was slow progress, but she had to get to the overgrowth past the beach. Once she passed out, she didn't know how long it would take her to wake up, and she couldn't risk the tide claiming them.

By the time she reached the edge of the beach, the moon was creeping over the horizon's edge.

How long had it been since they crashed? How long were they in the water?

When they got there Blake crawled down to Yang side, cupped her face and turned it towards herself.

Yang's lips, normally so flush and full, were blue and thin. Blake held her hand over the other girl's mouth, and waited.

It felt like forever, but eventually she felt the telltale whisper of a breath against her wrist.

Like a dam bursting, relief flushed Blake's system. She touched her forehead to Yang's, as a sob wracked her chest. "You're okay… you're okay…"

The world was getting dark, and Blake stopped fighting it.

"You're okay…" She whispered as unconsciousness claimed her.

* * *

 _A/N:_

 _Two chapter story methinks. New season's got me reved up, and what better way to get back into the game than with some good ol fashioned bumblebee?_

 _Next chapter is fluffy. This was just the set up._

 _Hope y'all are enjoying the show if you've had the chance to see the newest episode, and if not, I hope you do when you do._

 _Cheers,_

 _Unjax_


End file.
